Struggles of a Shopaholic

You may read the word ethical and have a laryngeal spasm, #triggered.

Sigrid McCarthy of Ethical Clothing Australia pinpoints one of the biggest obstacles to ethical consumption, is lack of awareness. She explains that “ethical fashion should really just be our industry protecting human beings”.

When a brand has been independently accredited as ethical, there are very simple assurances made. ““It maps the entire cut to making process. All workers… are being treated fairly, receiving legal entitlements, safe conditions and being paid the award rate”, said McCarthy.

Not only are we looking at sociological impacts, but ecological too.

Dr Diana Ivanova from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has said,

“If we change our consumption habits, this would have a drastic effect on our environmental footprint.”

So, step one is complete, you are now aware. It’s up to you now, to give ethical consumption a go. Here are a few simple tips, starting with your wardrobe.

Shopping Ethically on a Student Budget

Shop Vintage – Kirsten Lee of Fashion Revolution says that “op shops and clothes swaps” are one of the most economically viable and enjoyable way to consume ethically.

Let’s face it, what better way to spend your morning than at Glebe Markets with your bestie? Believe me, I was stoked to pick up designer shirts and jeans for op shop prices.

Re-wearing someone else’s hand-me-down’s isn’t your idea of fashion? Think about it as a way to earn a but of money, you can set up a stall yourself. Recycling clothes is vital to ethical consumption.

Purchasing recycled goods is saving you infinite amounts of money – so who’s to complain?

Know Your Brands ­– sure, this can take a bit of research, but there are plenty of ways to make this easier for yourself. Visit the Ethical Clothing Australia website. Besides totally inspiring you to make ethical choices, it outlines brands, explains the accreditation process and recent news.

Undress Runways is an annual event celebrating ethical designers and brands. Fall in love with the entire range of clothing and swimwear. There are over 40 celebrated clothing brands, made complete with the Naked Magazine, and Campos Coffee.

Pick a brand, fall in love.

Buy in one colour – Katherine Hamnett, Fashion designer and activist says “Pick one colour, and get everything in that colour – black seems to be the winner”. There are certainly people out there that can do this, I for one, would struggle. But there is a simple principle at work here.

One of the main challenges faced is when you subscribe to fast fashion, is the waste created from low quality clothing. where you by things you can only wear once and throw it out. In order to change that, buy a planned and coordinated wardrobe, it reduces consumption.

Watch trends of your favourite brands. Watching Fashion Week trends from Europe and New York Fashion give you an idea of what will be hotting stores in six months time. In doing this, you are more aware of what will be a seasonal throw away, and what’s more of a classic piece that will endure. A key tip, is investing in fewer, but better quality pieces.

Learn how to sew – Kirsten Lee of Fashion Revolution and tutor tutor at UTS endorses “Learning to sew and craft afternoons”.

My inspiration for this is my Mum. She could see the potential in a moulding potato sack and transform it with her nifty sewing skills. If you do not already posses the skill, alterations and sewing can be very time consuming. But it is worthwhile.

Tags out – Fashion Revolution launched the #whomademyclothes campaign. Kirsten Lee from the organisation explains, “It calls on consumers to take a selfie with the tag out of a fave garment & tag the company its from & comment "who made my clothes?" Engaging the company in a public disclosure of the conditions of the workers who made it & for more transparency.”

We’re all on social media, insty and snappy are my preferred platforms. So besides snapping your cruelty-free breakfast with #vegan, it can be used as a powerful agent for change.

So to combat a lack of awareness and encouraging transparency, we can use our beloved social media to create change.